If you delve deep into Welsh family history you'll soon be as familiar with Pennsylvanian counties such as Lackawanna and Luzerne as you are with places nearer home. We tend to underestimate the Welsh contribution to North America, look at this interesting youtube of ethnic background in the US for example. Even as late as 1931 the Welsh element made the top 17 and even that was a big decline from the proportion in earlier years.
Two things to remember, the US immigration and census authorities were the first governmental bodies in the modern world to recognise the Welsh as a separate nationality - this at a time when the for Wales see England attitude ruled the roost. Secondly the great majority of Welsh migrants in the Victorian period were Welsh speakers. Anyway take a look:
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4 comments:
Unrelated sorry but do you know what the etymology of 'the rogo' is? And whether or not it has a recorded welsh name?
On the 19th century Tithe map it's Rhiw'r Ogof - meaning the steep slope of the cave
I wouldn't same that Rogo was an English name, just a normal contraction which would most likely have been the familiar spoken form when the area was Welsh speaking.
Diddorol iawn. Although they're not as noisy as other hyphenated Americans, I've always found Welsh Americans to be impressive people and very knowledgeable about the old country.
Diolch am esbonio enw'r Rogo. Wi'n byw wrthi ers rhyw pum mlynedd bellach felly wi wastod wedi bod ishe dehongli enw'r lle.
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